Grande Prairie City Council allocated $50K to the Health Care Attraction and Retention Strategy as part of the City of Grande Prairie 2024 Capital Budget. The Economic Development department currently covers select costs for actions identified below through their approved 2024 Operating Budget. Additional actions identified are unfunded and will be brought forward as part of 2025 and 2026 budget deliberations.
By increasing awareness of local opportunities, the City will increase our competitive advantage in attracting and retaining health professionals and encouraging students to pursue careers in health care, thereby increasing access to care for our local and regional residents.
Goal: Develop an increased public awareness of Grande Prairie’s opportunities in the health care sector and build a skilled local workforce.
OBJECTIVE ACTIONS
PROJECTED TIMELINE WHY WE ARE DOING THIS
Grey Area: To be Completed in Phase I (2024) White Area: To be Completed in Phase II (2025-2026)
A unified plan to enhance community awareness for AHS coordinated physician and specialist site visits.
Formalize a process for site visits between Alberta Health Services (AHS), City and local champions.
Formalize and document a process by Q2 2024 (Ongoing)
Grande Prairie has an opportunity to raise awareness around the quality of life, amenities and community spirit for physicians and specialists exploring employment opportunities with AHS.
A formal strategy to guide the City’s efforts to attract and retain health care professionals within the city and surrounding area.
Establish a Task Force to Champion the Strategy and Outcomes.
Develop a strategy that includes information sharing, incentives, and infrastructure opportunities to supplement current initiatives supporting a sustainable health workforce in the city.
Formalize a joint Council-Administration taskforce comprised of the Mayor, Chair of the Invest GP Committee, and EDAC Committee and staff from Invest Grande Prairie, Intergovernmental Relations and Communications to support engagements related to the strategy, champion advocacy items and report back to City Council on progress.
Q2 2024
Build awareness through community ambassadors.
Build a network of local ambassadors across key sectors to support strategy delivery, including support for site visits, welcoming and integrating new health professionals before and after re-location to the region.
Q2 2024
Grande Prairie must set itself apart from other comparable communities provincially, nationally, and globally, to communicate our assets and opportunities in the health care sector to grow our labour force.
Identifying a core group within the city –Elected Officials and Administration will ensure coordination, support information sharing, and ensure the strategy is aligned with City Council’s advocacy priorities.
Establish an informal community advisory group to exchange knowledge and support city initiatives to attract and retain health care professionals within the city and area.
Coordinate a bi-annual meeting of key stakeholders to share knowledge, build capacity and networks and identify opportunities to collaborate on shared attraction and retention projects.
Identify ambassadors through a formal selection process by Q3 2024
Q3 2024 & Q1 2025 (Ongoing)
Community integration and inclusion are key to newcomers feeling welcomed and engaged in the community. Ambassadors can be identified for business supports in an official capacity (i.e., realtors, banking, lawyers etc.) or citizens at large who have a passion for welcoming new residents to the city.
Local stakeholders have noted a desire to see a forum to learn and share information on what is happening in the city.
OBJECTIVE ACTIONS
Grey Area: To be Completed in Phase I (2024) White Area: To be Completed in Phase II (2025-2026)
Strategic engagement with educators, and students (elementary to high school), to raise awareness of health care careers, education options and requirements and promote local health care career options.
Partner with the University of Alberta (U of A) to support medical student storytelling at local high schools and a ‘Becoming a Doctor in GP Information Session’ with local partners (Pathway, Profession, Purpose).
Partner with U of A to host the Asclepius Medical Camp for Youth.
Q3 2024 (Ongoing)
Currently collaborating with U of A to support their medical student ambassador program.
Q3 2024 (Ongoing)
1st Camp Scheduled for July 2024 in Grande Prairie
Students are more likely to explore careers options if they are exposed to careers in those fields.
Work with educators, CAREERS, Inside Education and/or AHS to support health care try-it days locally for high school students.
Work with U of A, Northwestern Polytechnic (NWP) and AHS to support a skills weekend for multidisciplinary health students in Grande Prairie at the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital (GPRH).
Q2 2025 Existing programming available through CAREERS or pre and post-secondary programming, can be leveraged and expanded to include enhanced health care options.
Q4 2025 Students in their last two years of program study will be exploring practicum and job opportunities.
A skills weekend provides valuable learning opportunities in addition to exposure to local champions, Grande Prairie Regional Hospital and the community.
Allows students in different programs of study to meet other interested students and interact in a multi-disciplinary suite of activities.
Grey Area: To be Completed in Phase I (2024)
Raise awareness of what Grande Prairie has to offer amongst health care professionals, students in all disciplines, and newcomers.
Streamlined business development information and opportunities for health care sector.
White Area: To be Completed in Phase II (2025-2026)
Attend first year medical student orientation and other career fairs at the U of A and U of C to share information on city quality of life and amenities in collaboration with AHS.
Create and advance a marketing campaign targeted at new students, newcomers, and physicians. Build on current attraction campaigns done through AHS and include a marketing campaign across Alberta to promote health care careers in the region through the Regional Workforce Development Partnership.
Strategically build relationships with Alberta Health, Alberta Health Services, Alberta Immigration and Multiculturalism and Jobs, Economy and Trade, to raise awareness of opportunities in Grande Prairie.
Host an Evening with Grande Prairie at U of A Medical School with students to share information about practice opportunities, incentives, housing, quality of life and regional recreation and amenities with students and faculty.
Q4 2024 (Ongoing)
Q4 2024 (Ongoing)
2022 and 2023 Medical Student Orientation was well received. Collaboration with AHS allowed for early opportunity to share city specific opportunities and information, including new opportunities at the GPRH.
The Work NW Alberta Partnership (WNWAP) comprised of the City, County, MD of Greenview, NWP, and the Chamber of Commerce is working collaboratively to promote workforce opportunities in the region. Marketing opportunities will be explored in any sectors, including health care, to support local employers fill job vacancies.
Ongoing Strong relationships and information sharing about local opportunities and challenges will strengthen collaboration between the municipality and the provincial government.
Q1 2025
Develop a city specific information resource for physicians or specialists starting a practice, or other health care support services starting a business in the city, reducing red tape, and providing a concierge level of service for our health care sector.
Q4 2024
The City’s Evening with Grande Prairie model to raise awareness of city priorities, opportunities and successes can be replicated with students and faculty as the primary audience, offering both local information as well as general information to support students as they consider residency options or starting a practice.
Grande Prairie boasts some of the most expedient development processes in the province making it easy for residents to set up a business.
Research shows that monetary incentives are not the most impactful way to attract and retain physicians. In conjunction with local workforce, quality of life, and spousal/ family engagement in the community, physicians are more likely to come and stay. By investing in incentives that will attract and retain new graduates in high-demand health care sectors within the City, we can enhance our labor pool and further develop our local health care professional’s skillsets.
Goal: Invest in incentives that will attract and retain high-demand health care professionals within the City and surrounding area.
OBJECTIVE ACTIONS PROJECTED TIMELINE WHY WE ARE DOING THIS
Grey Area: To be Completed in Phase I (2024) White Area: To be Completed in Phase II (2025-2026)
Networking opportunities for new and experienced physicians and multi-disciplinary health teams.
Host a welcome to Grande Prairie coffee break 3x/year for new health care professionals to share information about City initiatives and build community connections.
Host an annual Physician Appreciation Event and invite medical students and residents and/or additional allied health professionals.
(Expand on annual Council-hosted Physician Appreciation Mixer).
Q2 & Q4 2024 (Ongoing)
Q4 2024 (Ongoing)
AHS has noted positive feedback from employees regarding engagement opportunities. Sharing information will be valuable to support community integration and awareness of services, programs and available to residents.
Consider offering an annual physician spirit award that recognizes contribution to patients, community and growth through an award presented annually at the event (Similar to the Rhapsody Awards for Rural physicians).
Offer unique ‘City of Grande Prairie’ incentives for family physicians and specialists re-locating to the City or with 25 KM of the City limits.
Develop an incentive package (with options) for new family physicians and specialists residing and working in the City of Grande Prairie or the immediate catchment area.
Explore partnership with the County of Grande Prairie through their Physician Recruitment and Retention Policy.
Provide Eastlink Centre Memberships for Residents/Medical Students.
Q3 2024
Funding for students in health care or continuing health education.
Provide a partnership bursary to two new students entering medical education.
(Ongoing)
Grande Prairie must set itself apart from other comparable communities and will offer incentives that will encourage participation in community activities and amenities and go beyond simply offering financial incentives for attraction.
Provide grant funding for continuing education or training for physicians, specialists, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, nurses, and allied health practitioners.
Q1 2025
Eastlink passes are well received by medical residents and offer an opportunity to experience one of the City’s key recreational amenities, promoting health and wellbeing.
Explore opportunities to work with AHS/ Alberta Jobs, Economy and Trade (JET) Northern Alberta Development Bursary Program to offer a partnership bursary for two medical students annually, in addition to three partnership bursaries for students in nursing and other allied health professions deemed high demand in the Grande Prairie area.
Q1 2025
Continuing education is essential for the growth and professional development of the medical cluster in the city. Urban physicians are not eligible for the Rural Locum Coverage Program through AMA. To offset costs, the city would provide a grant of to support continuing education.
Attraction and recruitment of health care professionals, including physicians and specialists may require municipal supports or incentives to attract new providers to the community.
Goal: Advance infrastructure projects that will boost capacity and support the development of a health care cluster.
OBJECTIVE ACTIONS
Grey Area: To be Completed in Phase I (2024) White Area: To be Completed in Phase II (2025-2026)
Enhance opportunities for plug-and-play clinic space. Facilitate the development of Private, Municipal or P3 Owned Clinic Space.
2025+
Increase the availability of short-term housing or rentals for visiting students, residents, physicians and/or specialists.
Provide grants or incentives for new physicians, specialist or health care service providers opening a new practice in a commercial space within the City.
Explore short-term housing partnerships and/or increase housing supply within the City through planning and development, investment attraction and innovative P3 models.
Work with AHS, local physicians, and postsecondary institutions to identify feasibility for the development of the Teaching Clinic and access to clinic space for new graduates.
Support the development of the Maskwa Medical Clinic.
2025+ By exploring tax incentives or rebates for smaller commercial space upgrades specific to health care sector office spaces or clinics the city can incentivize development and investment in our commercial medical infrastructure.
2025+
Work collaboratively with local partners (e.g., Maskwa Medical Centre, Grande Spirit Foundation, NWP, AHS) to support the development of new housing opportunities for health care professionals.